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All the ale-houses I went to in Bavaria a few years ago had blackboards and chalk in the lavatories, so you could scrawl something profound and witty for the temporary pleasure of all fellow drinkers that evening if you so chose…..
…..except most of the comments had been applied by egregoius, ignorant Oxbridge rugger boys on beery weekends and invariably were of the format <person in group> has sex with <parent / another man / livestock (delete where applicable)> . Sigh, some people just shouldn’t be granted passports.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
KGB operatives used to carry ladders with sharpened, poison-tipped ends around with them, until it was discovered unbrellas were both more discrete and a bit easier to carry.
The exclusive rights to the word "ladder" were bought by Jeffrey Holland out of Hi-de-Hi! in 1984, and he now receives a percentage profit of any shop selling, advertising or mentioning ladders by name.
Former Liberal leader Jo Grimond had a morbid fear of ladders stemming back to the day in May 1956 when one fell on top of him whilst out doing political canvassing in Surbiton. Every year after that, on the anniversary of the incident, he could be found hiding in his airing cupboard gibbering "The ladders are coming! The ladders are coming!!!"
The rungs of ladders made in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, are 13 inches across, as opposed to the 12 inche British Standard. This is thought to encourage tourism.
Ladder and adder salads make for badder bladders.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
(Edited by graysonscolumn at 9:44 pm on April 29, 2005)
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Quote: from kingmonkey on 7:52 am on April 29, 2005[br]Love.
<br>"Love", you say….. hmm. "Love", "love"……. no sorry, can’t remember that one.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Afghanistan had been developing its own ladders of mass destruction – at the behest of Osama Bin Ladder – for years. Was a real bugger getting them out of the caves when completed, though.
<br>Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Hiya,
There are many nice things I have more recent recollections of than sex – will they do?
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
My result on that poll thing;
<br>LibDem +105<br>Green +91<br>Labour +21<br>Evil UKIP -37<br>Evil Tories -52
<br>Well thank Quixall / Peel / Guesty / Goethe / Kafka [insert ersatz God of choice] for that.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Quote: from Meshaheer on 9:14 pm on April 15, 2005[br]What I would like is a political party which would eradicate all forms of political correctness from society altogether.<br>
<br>Explain.<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Hiya,
Maybe the Scottish fellows on this forum can confirm this for me? As far as I can gather the SNP has nailed its colours to the mast as being both pro-European and pro-immigration. Should the day ever come that Birmingham is appended to Scotland, I think they’d give this ‘ere Lib Demmer a serious voting dilemma…
Regarding immigration, I think the SNP’s Nicola Pollock made the point that more immigration is required to arrest the decline in population particularly biting in Scotland. This has long since been the argument for inviting more people into Germany and one which I have supported over here for some time now.
We DO need to make up the shortfall which the sustained refusal of Brits to make babies (myself included) at the same rate as a decade ago is making ever more apparent. What we DON’T need, however, is them all being patriated in the already stupidly crowded Southeast – there are other areas of the British Isles (as well as the aforementioned Scotland) where they would be better directed to. It can only be hoped that a better geographic spread of non-British people across the UK will also, over time, engender a better mutual understanding and tolerance of each other across the board.
Not too much to hope for, I think.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Rough resume of guests on tracks by The 6ths; Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy), Gary Numan, Amelia Fletcher (Heavenly / Talulah Gosh), Momus, Barbara Manning, Sally Timms (Mekons), Bob Mould (Husker Du / Sugar), Clare Grogan, Marc Almond, Mary Timony (Helium), Georgia Hubley (Yo La Tengo), Lou Barlow (Sebadoh).
A curious ongoing project, all told.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Quote: from insomniac on 8:17 pm on April 13, 2005[br]Yes, it’s awfully bad news for the workforce. As someone who has been made redundant a couple of times in recent years, they have my sympathy.<br> Don’t think any (more) taxpayers money should be wasted on Rover though. Pity none of the main political  leaders didn’t have the nuts to say this. Could it be that there’s an election in the offing?  <br> Does anyone think Rover shpuld be baled out by the taxpayer?<br>
<br>Rover has been spluttering along to varying degrees for the last 25 years. It was primarily the deal with Honda to supply engines for their Metros etc. during the 1980s which delayed this day so long.
Given that, in the last five years or so in particular, the distress signals have been evident, why on earth had no political muscles been flexed to begin the process of enticing alternative employers to set up in the area, ready (as far as one can ever be ready) for these inevitable dark days?
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
(Edited by graysonscolumn at 5:41 pm on April 14, 2005)
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Quote: from Prufrock on 12:46 pm on April 4, 2005[br]Are you a fan of Future Bible Heroes (offshoot of Magnetic Fields), jeremy? I have one album by them, which is very good. With the exception of The Montgolfier Brothers, Stereolab must qualify as my most-seen band. There was scarcely a month that went by circa 1992-1996 when I didn’t see them plying their trade at some venue or other.
Most criminally ignored: Divine Comedy and Tindersticks.<br>
<br>FBH are also damned fine, although the preponderance of doodles and 30-second songs makes "Eternal Youth" a lot less satisfying than "Memories of Love". Can’t think of too much Stephin (sic) Merritt has touched which I haven’t enjoyed – have you heard either of his albums as The 6ths, Simon? Essentially Magnetic Fields-type fare but with guest singers on every track.
Glad to see Heart Throbs getting a mention here also – had "I Wonder Why" on the other day as part of an old compilation I’d dug up. Whither Rose Carlotti nowadays?
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Best Single: "Of the Perfect Kind", by the Field Mice<br>(except it was never released as a single, so I’d probably have to go for "Sparrows and the Nightingales" by Wolfsheim).
Best Album: "Skywriting" by the Field Mice, or "Sing to God" by Cardiacs
Best Band: Field Mice again, or else Stereolab
Best Solo Performer: Laura Cantrell or Barbara Morgenstern
Best Gig: Magnetic Fields doing the entire "69 Love Songs" over two nights at the Hammersmith Lyric Theatre a few years back
Lifetime Achievement Award: John Peel
Tip For The Top in 2005: The Real Tuesday Weld, KT Tunstall
Most Hated: Oh God, too many to choose, but Dido has to rank highly.
Criminally Ignored: at the moment, that’d have to be Trembling Blue Stars
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
No view as yet, I just saw the review on the teletext. Record-buying activity temporarily curtailed due to financial constraints, bar the odd essential (the new Trembling Blue Stars single, for one).
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Quote: from Prufrock on 3:47 pm on April 1, 2005[br]Somebody gave me a copy of "I Am A Bird Now" by Antony and The Johnsons for my birthday, and I reckon it’s a startlingly good and original album.
Antony, a former drag queen, has a voice like Nina Simone and collaborates with the likes of Boy George and Lou Reed on this. There are also some beautiful string arrangements and other musical touches.
Review in "The Observer":  http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/10be … 65,00.html<br>
<br>Aye, Planet Sound (Teletext on 4’s excellent music organ) gave it a good write-up as well, saying the guy sounded like nothing else on this Earth at the moment. A rare bird indeed.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Quote: from Khotso Moabi on 1:29 am on Mar. 30, 2005[br]fantastic seeing so many kenickie fans:cheesy: <br>anyway, after a weeks deliberation ive finally decided which hmhb track makes the cut, believe me it wasnt easy…
7) Half Man Half Biscuit – Running Order Squabblefest<br>
Good call!
"You’re going on after Crispy Ambulance!" etc.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Quote: from Zoz on 10:14 pm on Mar. 28, 2005[br]Oh My Life Story, fantastic. If You Can’t Live Without Me Then Why Aren’t You Dead Yet? is a great song. They were really bloody good. <br>
<br>I liked "Strumpet" and "King of Kissingdom" by them as well. What IS Jake Shillingford up to nowadays? His cannot be a talent to go to waste for evermore.
Now, Whipping Boy – that name rings a bell. Balding, scary Irish bloke, often on stage in stockings, wasn’t it? If that was the band behind "Twinkle", I think it was called ("She is the only one for me, now and always" all the way through the chorus), then yes, a great lost band as also. Shame the likes of this and MLS died on their arse during the Britpop era, whilst other, less worthy acts – oooh, Menswear and Northern Uproar, anybody? – were able to flourish. Hey ho.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Quote: from dave jay on 9:28 pm on Mar. 25, 2005[br]I’ll probably vote Conservative Grays even though they are a load of oily ticks. I live in a marginal seat and would love to see the Labour MP go.<br>
<br>No prospect of a prospective LibDem candidate doing that in your neck of the woods?
I had a fun upbringing in what was then the parliamentary constituency known as Littleborough and Saddleworth, one of the most volatile in the country on account of its genuine prospect of the result going any of three ways every election. Therefore, even without having my predominately German family making sure I did not cultivate the same ambivalence to politics their parents may have had 50+ years previously (with the disastrous consequences about which we all know), the maxim of "every vote counts" has always been one I hold close; although admittedly the introduction of Proportional Representation would make me believe in it yet further.
In the three elections I voted in back home, we got the Conservative Geoffrey Dickens (imagine Mr Baxter Basics from Viz – oleagenous, corrupt, and of yo-yo trousers inclination), LibDem Chris Davies (sweet, good constituency MP, but constantly marginalised by the Old Labour types elsewhere in the vicinity), and Labour’s Phil Woollas (smarmy, take-me-to-your-photo-opportunity serial non-listener).
I can only speak as I find, and I found the second guy the winner of the three.
Shame that, since Davies’ departure, Labour has blessed and indeed overseen the closure of our village library (whilst at the same time the DCMS is trumping up the ailing library service as "street corner universities for all" ), and the revoking of winter salt gritting from all bar the main arterial routes in the district – a real stroke of genius given how a good percentage of the population lives up wee country lanes. The Nasty Party, meanwhile, continues to make my jaws drop on a daily basis for everything from its divided front on just how much spending it is going to withhold from people once in office, right through to – according to the current CAMRA newsletter – at least 16 of its MPs (and NONE from the other two parties) refusing to back beer drinkers’ lobbying to stop unscrupulous bars and pubs selling half-measured pints. Tsk.
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)<br>
(Edited by graysonscolumn at 1:16 pm on Mar. 28, 2005)
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
